


The Guardian of Time

by StrikinglyStrange



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-18 14:25:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 10,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14854469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrikinglyStrange/pseuds/StrikinglyStrange
Summary: An AU where Doctor Strange meets Tony (and company) during Kaecilius' raids on the Sanctums; The Avengers join forces with the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj to help prevent Dormammu's take-over. Tony gets on Stephen's nerves almost instantly. Stephen didn't plan on meeting someone that is his match in almost every way. Tony's impressed by the Cloak: he wonders if Stephen is impressed by his armor. Tony shows off by rescuing Stephen's friends with the help of the Iron Legion.Major character deaths inbound. Fight scenes, but nothing too gory. Budding relationships -- perhaps leading into some IronStrange.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> “I've got a secret for the mad,
> 
> In a little bit of time, it won't hurt so bad.”
> 
> -Dodie

Stephen never expected to lose his hands. Unlike most people, his hands were his entire career. Quite frankly, without the use of the combined artistry, grace and strength of his right and left hands he was left utterly useless in the field of surgery. What kind of patient could be asked to depend upon a neurosurgeon who would be unable to actually perform the physical act themselves? No, Strange would have to preside as a mentor over whomsoever would take his place. He would become as washed up and faded as an old fluorescent light source within the operating room. That is why, when Stephen realized that modern medicine could not fix his broken limbs, he turned deep inside himself. This strict reflective state dove deep into the recesses of his mind—where he explored the vast possibilities. In the end, Stephen had to forsake science. The practice of which he had dedicated his life to could not save him in the way that it had saved countless patients before him.

Stephen had been needlessly and carelessly cruel during the peak days of his career; he turned away patients that were too easy and too hard, alike. He desired a challenge, but nothing that could tarnish his carefully crafted reputation. One could say that the precision in which he garnered his reputation was equal to the precision that he used when operating. That same needle thread precision drove away so many from him — his ex-girlfriend Christine, included. She tried her best to keep up with his ever growing ego. She pioneered her medical career right beside his. Yet, when she allowed their paths to tangle she was nearly immediately burned. Strange didn’t want to share his spotlight with anybody. Least of all a peer whom he considered unworthy. The hunger for fame and glory drove him to constantly search for the next big thing. So, Christine had been left behind in his old, scientific life when Strange decided to pursue more otherworldly means.

But as Strange traveled farther and farther away from home he felt an emptiness nagging inside the pit of his stomach. He had never suffered from anxiety or extreme nervousness and he didn’t believe those to be the cause of his current discomfort, either. As his money dwindled down and his body grew wearier he feared losing Christine — truly losing her. Yes, they had argued. He had raised his voice and attacked her with hurtful insults, but he had believed that she would come back. If he hadn’t of decided to embark on his journey, if he had stayed home.. he knew that the next morning she’d be unlocking his front door again. Christine would let herself in and joyfully begin cooking or chatting away, not even checking to see if Stephen was actually awake or not. To her, it didn’t matter. He’d realized his situation was inevitable, in a comical sort of way, and he’d roll out of bed and into the living area to greet her.

He forced himself to shake his head vigorously. He was losing himself to bold fantasy. In the first few days after his accident, Strange had held onto hope, but he quickly realized that the more Christine did for him the more bitter he had become. He despised relying on someone else. He knew his face was a mosaic of emotions and since he embarked on his journey he did everything within his power to avoid mirrors or any other reflective surfaces that would force him to come into contact with himself. An unshaven face was a small price to pay while he was running from his fate.

People who passed him on the street didn’t give him a second notice. He felt himself trading places with all of the homeless or questionable people he passed on his lunch strolls. He had never thought himself wrong for avoiding them, but now he felt how truly lonely the sensation of being undesirable was. He swallowed deeply but continued on his journey. It would lead him to Kathmandu, where he would find a door as broken down and forsaken as he. He locked his gaze upon the door that various locals have guided him to. “Kamar-Taj…” he whispered to no one.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Several months passed within Kamar-Taj as Stephen worked vigorously to restore his broken ego. He had no faith that his hands would work again."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bear with me! There's no Avengers yet, but they're coming in the next chapter. I just really wanted to set Stephen's character up like they do in the movie. I wanted my readers to get a feel for how lonely and broken Stephen had become after his accident. He's having trouble accepting his new disability but our friendly playboy, billionaire, philanthropist is gonna turn that all around for him.

“You're at the bottom, this is it  
Just get through, you will be fixed.”  
-Dodie

Several months passed within Kamar-Taj as Stephen worked vigorously to restore his broken ego. He had no faith that his hands would work again. Even when he channeled the magic of the mystic arts to flow through them they still shook. No neurosurgeon could possibly operate with these tiny, constant hand tremors. Stephen felt as if they started within the very core of his body and spread outwards, like a flame. Despite the fact that no other areas of his body were actually affected. Those tremors were all it took to convince Stephen that he would not be able to return to the hospital. In the back of his mind, he realized that that daunting fact also meant that he would have no reason to reach out to Christine. He had somehow managed to convince himself that he had been in love with her: that if he could take but one thing from his past life with him beyond the gates of Kamar-Taj it would have been her. Her...

But between his frustrating training sessions where he seemed to be virtually getting nowhere, he turned to the library. Studying and researching in uncontrollable situations had been Stephen’s safety net since his days in med school. More information translated into more knowledge which translated into more success... “No.. more hope,” he reasoned with himself.

In these frequent trips to the library, he met his new closest friend, Wong. Wong was the supervisor of the library. He maintained and preserved the safety of both mundane and sacred texts, as well as priceless artefacts—all of which caught Stephen’s eye everytime he entertained a new trip to the library. Wong, initially, was put off by how quickly Strange finished the books that he checked out. He wondered if Strange really took the time to study the books or sped read them in some kind of contest with an invisible foe. Either way, the more Strange checked out the more nervous it made Wong. He knew before long Strange would be unsatisfied with the basic knowledge allowed to all recruits. In the back of his mind he saw another Kaecilius in the making; Kaecilius, the villain who had turned against the order and stole pages that contained dark summoning rituals within them. He didn’t believe there was any actual physical connection between Strange and Kaecilius, but he didn’t allow his guard to falter.

Naturally, the day came when Strange snuck into the library and helped himself to the Ancient One’s personal collection. Somehow, he managed to select the very book which Kaecilius had vandalized. To Strange, it wasn’t a big deal. He casually flipped through pages containing some of the strongest pages of the order with an indifferent attitude. Of course, when Wong and Mordo, another master of the mystic arts, found him just a few minutes later they were furious and lectured Stephen until he relinquished the book back into Wong’s care. But not before he learned the truth about the Ancient One. A truth that he soon realized was kept from the friends he had made with the Order. As he lay in bed that night, he wondered why he alone was allowed to become privy to the truth.

He tossed and turned that night. He had been directed to Kamar-Taj because people said that it was a place of unexplainable and remarkable. He was told it was a place that collected broken and thrown away things that had once been people and repaired them like Gepetto had repaired watches and clocks in his shop. Yet, here it was. On the way to his healing, he had exposed a horrifying flaw within the system. He understood why Kaecilius had rebelled and fled. He did not agree, but he knew. In the days to come, he put on a thick outer shell and pretended that his new found knowledge didn’t eat away at him. After all, he had gained the reputation of being an egotistical, narcissistic, asshole and he didn’t want to let anyone down. Even though he would have settled with being described as, “overeager or even overachieving,” he tells Wong over some food they grabbed from the communal eating area.

Wong smirks the tiniest bit and replies, “Strange, I don’t think there’s any digging yourself out of this hole. Most here believe that you’re aiming for the title of Sorcerer Supreme, unrightfully.”


	3. Tony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just as our favorite sorcerer is feeling hopelessly lonely chaos breaks loose, uniting him with a man of iron!

“But I wonder where were you?  
When I was at my worst  
Down on my knees.”  
-Maroon 5

Stephen began to itch for a journey back into the real world. No matter how refreshing the gardens of Kamar-Taj were he was increasingly frustrated by the fact that Christine ignored the emails he sent to her every night. It was like clockwork, the last thing he did before bed every night for nearly a month. He would open up his laptop, bring it out of sleep mode, connect to the WiFi, pull up the site, open up a new email, add in her information, type a summary of his day—ending it with how he did miss her—hit send, and lay down and wait for sleep while he contemplated if this would be the time that she would give in and reply.

But he was fooling himself. When they parted ways he had said such hateful things to her. The truth of the matter was that he didn’t know when or if he would return from his journey to Kamar-Taj and he didn’t want to leave her with any false hopes. He had to learn to move past her. But he didn’t exactly have any potential candidates within the Order. He didn’t chalk that up as a bad thing, though. He still didn’t know how long he would stay with them. Wong explained to them that lifelong members were primed for protecting over the various Sanctums of the world. That would mean that Stephen would grow old in a dusty, abandoned building. The world would turn around him but he would be too occupied keeping the worlds magic shields fueled with appropriate amounts of magical energy to even notice.

No, Stephen was lonely. And that’s when he heard the commotion outside. He quickly jogged to the noise coming from the courtyard to see several higher members of the Order standing with the Ancient One. 

“The British Sanctum Sanctorum is under attack,” declared the Ancient One, calmly.

The group dispersed and began to armor up. When Wong caught Strange trying to ready himself to assist in the defense of the Sanctum he gently placed his hand on Strange’s arm and shook his head. “No,” he said firmly, “You are not yet ready. This is not a fight that you understand.” And like that, Wong was gone. Stephen, however, had to disagree. This seemed like the perfect answer to his boredom.

He snuck a portal a safe distance between Wong, Mordo and a few others whose names he had never properly learned. He arrived just in time to watch the guardian of the Sanctum lose his life to Kaecilius: a sword right through the gut. Stephen knew instantly that no amount of surgery would bring that man back. As the life faded from the nameless guardian’s eyes Mordo flung himself over the railing of the top of the staircase and used the gravity to thrust into Kaecilius with all of the might of his weight. Wong chased after him, taking the stairs down. Stephen, realizing he may have made a mistake, backed up into the back rooms of the Sanctum. It was too late, though, one of Kaecilius’ lackeys caught Strange out of the corner of her eye and she quietly slipped away from the fray and stalked Strange down the hallway. 

Stephen found himself in a room of Order relics. He admired old books, devices of torture, ancient vases and so on until he came to a giant glass case. The elegant red cloak behind the glass immediately caught his eye. It looked to be made of extremely expensive material and it had clearly been finely preserved through who knows the number of years that it had belonged to the Order. As Stephen looked over the bottom of the cloak he didn’t notice how it followed his gaze. When he turned away from the case, not wanting to set off any alarms and alert anyone to his presence, the cloak pressed itself up against the glass. He found himself in front of a giant window and looked out in amazement. He was in London, an ocean away from where he stood a few moments ago. An ocean away from all of his problems...

While Strange was lost in his thoughts the lackey struck him in the back of his head with her fist. Stephen fell forward and stumbled to catch himself. He crashed into the window and felt a slight crack in his upper forehead. He saw some blood trickle down and knew she had injured him somewhat seriously. She paused, thinking the job was done much sooner than she had anticipated. In the background the cloak flapped vigorously against the glass—this caught her attention. She turned towards it and Stephen used this opportunity to activate a shield in front of him. He sent the magic flying out towards her but it sputtered and only half of the intended spell actually struck her. Still, it damaged her elbow and caught her off guard and she slumped a little. 

She screamed and charged towards him and he sidestepped closer to the cloak. He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of power the sentient object held. A scream came from the front rooms and Mordo appeared, covered in blood, at the entrance to the rooms that Strange was occupying. Mordo observed Stephen looking intently between the glass case and the female. Mordo threw Strange his sword and charged the female. She didn’t take the bait and ran towards Strange as he smashed opened the case. She tried to rip the cloak from his hands but Mordo grabbed her by the waist and yanked her backward. They went toppling over each other and smashed into the railing of the staircase as Strange equipped the cloak.

Mordo was bleeding from the arm he landed on and the female wasn’t moving, for the moment. What caught Stephen’s eye, however, was the figure hovering outside of the giant window he stood at earlier. Behind the stained glass and the metal and steel patterned bars he could see the faint outline of what appeared to be a robot. It was a suit of iron.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger! I just wanted to build up the suspense! You'll get plenty of sarcastic and witty Tony dialogue in the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit of a short chapter, but be fully prepared for the totally amazing and non-refundable Tony Stark Experience™.

“I'm from the East side of America  
Where we choose pride over character.”  
-The Chainsmokers

For some reason, he couldn’t explain Stephen was absolutely captivated by the floating suit of iron. Mordo, who hadn’t noticed, had already scuffled his way back onto his two feet. He snatched the female’s knife and was backing away from her while extending it in her direction. She picked herself up and backed up all the way until the back of her legs were pressed into the cold railing. The world seemed to move in slow motion as the iron suit raised a palm towards the left side of the window. Stephen noticed that the robot aimed for the section that none of them were near. The robot shot off a powerful laser which caused the window to crack and burst. Shards of colorful glass rained down inside the building as the robot man flew slowly through.

He looked to his right, at Stephen and then towards Mordo and the pinned female. 

“I’m Tony Stark,” he snickered, taking in Stephen’s shocked expression, “I’m sure you’ve heard of me.” Everyone turned to look at him, but no one spoke. “Aw, c’mon! Tony Stark. Stark Enterprises? We basically made Captain America. I’m an Avenger? You know? Saved New York a few years back.” But Tony was met with even thicker silence. There was a bone-shattering sound ringing out from the front rooms where Wong and Kaecilius had been left. Mordo and Stephen snapped their necks towards the direction of the sound, which gave the female the chance she needed. She wrenched the blade from Mordo and sprinted down the hallway.

Mordo began to chase her, but winced from the sharp pain that was causing his arm to throb. “Strange..” he whispered desperately, “Put all that studying to work.” Stephen nodded and summoned a shield before he gave chase.

Tony turned off his jets and walked over to Mordo. He examined the man’s arm. “Hey F.R.I.D.A.Y, send two of the Iron Legion to my location. We’ve got an injured.” Mordo studies Tony, who to him, seems to be speaking to the air. Tony turns to him, “It’s a clean break. You’re fine, for the most part.” He cracked a smirk and went back to confirming details with his AI. “So, magic man, just hang out around the window back there and wait for my guys to come help.”

“Mordo,” Mordo grunted. “I’m sorry, what?” Tony cocked his head. “My name is Mordo.” But he did what Tony asked of him. He knew when to back down from a fight.

Stephen wasn’t sure why they hadn’t received any backup. He assumed it must have something to do on Kaecilius’ end. He reached the top of the staircase and saw Wong pinned up against the wall directly below him. “Kaecilius!” Stephen yelled as the room began to twist around him.

“Strange, wait!” Wong exclaimed, but Kaecilius was already on his way up to Stephen, thrusting himself forward on the steps of a magical staircase that he conjured. And then Kaecilius found himself on the wrong end of a stair and plummeted into the roof. Stephen landed a few inches from Kaecilius and scrambled to regain his balance.

“Okay, what?” Tony asked as he sputtered into the room on his jets. “I haven’t even gotten hit yet and things are moving around in ways they shouldn’t be.”

This made Stephen chuckle; “Welcome to the mirror dimension, Mr. Stark. I hope you can handle yourself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can imagine, things are gonna get PRETTY intense in the Mirror Dimension.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony can't decide if he's discovered the secret location of Hogwarts or interrupted the pre-show practice of a circus group. And, in Tony fashion, he does his very best to show off in front of "wizards."

“It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right,  
I hope you had the time of your life.”  
-Green Day

“I’m sorry, what is that? Are we playing with smoke and mirrors here? I thought you guys were wizards like Harry Potter. Is this a circus? Am I interrupting the preshow practice?”

Stephen rolled his eyes at Tony. Kaecilius used the distraction to bolt out of the building.

“Fuck..” Stephen scoffed under his breath.

Wong walked up behind Stephen. “Mordo?”

Tony stuck a thumb out towards the back rooms and Wong made his way back to the other master of mystic arts. “So.. this mirror.. dimension?” Tony turned towards Stephen.

“We manipulate the world here without actually changing the real world. Nothing that happens here will be permanent.”

Tony quickly nodded. “Then let's get to business.”

Stephen took one step forward, then turned back towards Tony. “Will anymore Avengers be joining us today?”

Tony choked. “We’re uh.. we’re a bit.. scattered right now. You definitely haven’t been paying attention to the news.”

Stephen shrugged, “No televisions in Kamar-Taj.” “Kamar what? What did you say?” Tony chases after Stephen who’s gone outside.

“Hey, Strange, what’s your buddy doing there?” Tony points at Kaecilius who’s next to the foundation on the right side of the building.

A loud crash erupts from underneath the Sanctum. “He’s going to take down the building. Wong! Mordo!” Stephen leans towards the door but Tony holds his arm out in front of him.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y get the wizards out, now.”

On the other side of the building more of the glass window is shattered as two Iron Legion bots carry Wong and Mordo to their safety: they’re placed on the roof of the building directly left of the Sanctum. Stephen releases the breath that he wasn’t even aware he was holding; Tony raises an eyebrow when he hears the hitch in Stephen’s breath. Then the entire Sanctum implodes, sending pieces of the building in all directions. Stephen feels himself being picked up and flown away. He doesn’t open his eyes for what feels like forever.

“Are you afraid of heights? No Quidditch team back at Kamar-whoever?”

Stephen opens his eyes and immediately glares at Tony. “No, we do not have any wizard sports team, Mr. Stark.”

Then Stephen looks down and notices that they’re flying in mid-air. Stephen brushes Tony’s arms out from underneath him and falls a few inches before the cloak steadies them. Stephen looks up at Tony. “Some of us don’t need multimillion-dollar suits,” he tries to say rudely but ends up smirking anyways. 

Kaecilius makes his escape while Tony and Stephen are recovering. He dashes up the block that the Sanctum once stood on, shoving pedestrians out of his way whenever they come too close for comfort. Stephen’s still smirking at the billionaire, playboy, philanthropist when he hears the shouts of those who were shoved. His neck immediately snaps in the direction Kaecilius is fleeing. Stephen let’s out a deep sigh. 

“We made a mistake, Strange!” Mordo is yelling while flailing his arms around; he’s still on top of the building and isn’t entirely sure that Stephen can even hear him.

“A mistake?” Stephen grits his teeth.

“He’s stronger here. Dormammu allows him to draw great power from the Mirror Dimension,” Wong responds.

“Dormammu?” Stephen questions at the exact same time that Tony asks, “Dor-what now?”

Mordo nods, “You know him Strange. Wong says you took a look at the Ancient One’s personal collection.”

Stephen’s face grew pale and he hesitated to answer. Tony descended a few inches to his level and tried to catch his eye.

“Is Door Mama bad? This seems bad.”

Stephen was unconsciously chewing at his lip. “He’s the Destroyer of Worlds. He promises life-everlasting.. but he sucks worlds dry.”

“Like a middle schooler with a Capri Sun?” Stephen side eyes Tony. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s a juice brand!”

Stephen straightens his face, “I know. I just didn’t realize that Tony Stark had children.”

“I don’t. Not really. He’s not my blood or anything. Not really even adopted. He’s just this kid.. well, he’s technically an Avenger in training. It’s just.. he’s pretty young. I’m pretty on the fence about it, but he just tries so hard, you know?” Tony’s face rises and falls as he tries to reason with himself over his relationship with Peter Parker.

“Tony,” Strange gently places a hand on his shoulder, “it’s okay.” And that tiny affirmation is all Tony needs to refocus himself on the task at hand.

“Kaecilius must be stopped, no matter the cost.” Stephen states as he lands on the rooftop next to Mordo and Wong—Tony still hovering in the air behind him.

“That’s not how we do things here Strange,” Mordo says with the voice you’d expect to hear from a talking to by your school principal.

“No,” says a voice from beyond an orange portal that manifests itself on the rooftop, “it isn’t.” The Ancient One gracefully steps through, her robes gently falling into place around her. “Strange, take Wong and the Man of Iron and return to the New York Sanctum.”

“Uhhh, it’s Iron Man. See? Saying it right even saves you a bit of time. You know? Kinda like that commercial? 15 minutes can save you $50 or more on car insurance?” Tony pipes up, in defense of his brand. Stephen chuckles, ever so lightly and the Ancient One eyes him for it.

“I am being quite serious Mr. Strange. Every second we spend here arguing is another second that Kaecilius is wreaking havoc on unknowing civilians,” the Ancient One says, authoritatively.

Stephen looks from the Ancient One to Wong, and out past Tony to the rest of London. “I know you don’t believe me ready to be here.. but I want to help stop him. I couldn’t contain him in the Sanctum, but things are different now,” he motions to his newly acquired cloak.

“It’s true,” the Ancient One walks up to Stephen and admires the cloak, “that you have one the favor of the Cloak of Levitation. It is quite a fickle thing. It’s been ages since it decided to serve a new master. You two make a nearly perfect pair..”

“But?” Stephen interjects.

“You are not yet ready. You’re attempting to play with forces beyond your control. Beyond your imagination.”

“Beyond his wildest dreams?” Tony chuckles at his pop reference that interrupts the Ancient One: the group is silent. “What? Nobody here a Swiftie? Taylor Swift? Man, the kid would be proud of me for that joke.” He slaps his own knee.

“It’s nice that you can so easily entertain yourself,” Stephen says acidicly as he turns from Tony back to the Ancient One, “But I am here, and I will help.”

“Strange—” Mordo primes himself for a lecture.

“Very well,” the Ancient One secedes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is pretty action orientated; we're finally gonna see our favorite sorcerer and our favorite billionaire team up to fight against Kaecilius and his rebellion!
> 
> (Sadly, I am going out of town for my job today and will not be back until Monday morning so I cannot guarantee that I will be able to upload chapter six tomorrow. I'm sorry, and I'll get back on the daily schedule as soon as possible!)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s a lot of witty humor from Tony in this one. But it’s balanced out by the somber element of Stephen’s loneliness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Somehow I managed to wake up early enough before work to post the new chapter!

“One kiss is all it takes  
Fallin' in love with me  
Possibilities  
I look like all you need.”  
-Dua Lipa

Strange and Tony are covering air visuals while Mordo, Wong, and the Ancient One silently stalk their way through the city streets. Tony dismissed his two Iron Legion buddies back to the Avengers Base so that know one would know they had been released. The signing of the accords still fresh in his mind, he didn’t want to have to explain why he was an entire continent away, playing bodyguard to Harry Potter and company. 

“Yeah, Rhodey, it’s no big deal. I was just bored. Thought I’d hit London and see if there was anything new to get Pepper. I’m always owing her gifts to make up for my eccentricities,” he jokes aloud. Strange looks back at him slightly. “Oh, don’t mind me. Just making sure I have a rock solid excuse if the government gets nervous,” Tony smiled widely.

On the ground Mordo was arguing with the Ancient One about allowing the outsiders to come along. “Strange is too fresh and we know next to nothing about this Tony Stark,” he spits.

“We know that he saved New York, and all of humanity in consequence, four years ago. That he laid down his life to go into outer space and prevent anymore of Loki and Thanos’ conscripted armies crossing over. Our shields were shattered, Mordo, quicker than one could blink, or snap a finger,” she chimed back.

“If our shields had held.. If they had held maybe Kaecilius would have never turned on us. He saw our weakness that day...” Mordo sighed.

Wong stopped dead in his tracks, “Mordo--there’s nothing we could have done. All of our combined magic wasn’t enough.”

“Yes, and now he seeks the protection of Dormammu for the world, for our world,” Mordo growled.

“Yes, because he feels as if there is nothing else to turn to. I have let him down, and I have been unable to make it up to him. Four years he festered with hate, four years with malice and an unimaginable chaos brewing within him,” she sighed again.

“Too bad the Avengers broke up,” Mordo joked, “I was really counting on those freaks.”

“I can hear you, you know,” Tony states as he lands behind Mordo. “And not all of us are freaks. Have you met Clint? He’s pretty basic. You could say the same for Sam or even Rhodey. We’re not all gods. In fact, that’d be Thor: Party of One.”

“And where is he?,” Mordo turned, “This god of Thunder?”

Tony drug his foot across the pavement, “He’s--He’s dealing with some family drama. Crazy brother, rebellions, struggles of the throne? You know? He’ll be back, but we don’t know when. We don’t have the technology to communicate with Asgard. But wouldn’t that be something?”

Up the street Kaecilius joins up with his lackies from before. The Ancient One raises the street around them propelling it in mid-air. She readies herself for the oncoming battle; she lifts a barrier around the majority of the circle and creates a giant shield to protect herself, as well as the party behind her. 

“Listen to me, Strange, Wong, Mordo, and Mr. Stark, do not engage. This fight will be mine to bear and mine alone.”

Kaecilius, after some pondering, approaches the newly constructed arena. His lackies tense up their bodies when they realize that they are outnumbered. “Show no fear my allies, we remain with the upper hand,” Kaecilius reassures them; “We have Dormammu, they have an ancient piece of history.”

The Ancient One stood her ground, reinforcing her stance--her feet planted firmly on the ground. Tony stood, inspecting the barrier surrounding them.

“This isn’t like anything we’ve got at Stark Industries. I’d bet my father never encountered anything like this in Wakanda either.”

“The Mirror Dimension exists everywhere Mr. Stark, but not everyone is taught to detect it. Only those who have been trained within the order can call upon and manipulate the webs of the mirror. It is a very delicate science in making sure that you do not trigger any irreversible cracks,” she momentarily eyes Stephen; Tony catches this glance and wonders what Stephen’s done to incur such suspicion.

“Troublemaker, eh? It’s okay, I am too. You know, when they recruited me for the Avengers I turned Fury down, and then when I tried to come back they turned me down. Basically had to fight my way back. It was a spectacle, you should have seen it! I rolled up on a ball that Loki had crashed, he had everyone mind controlled. Cap thought he had it under control, but you know me, I was the one who saved the day. Natasha was practically in love with me after that,” Tony’s boasting goes on and on while Stephen is holding a finger to his temple and rolling his eyes.

“No, Mr. Stark, I have had the pleasure of not knowing you up until this moment. And I believe I shall have the pleasure of parting ways with you fairly soon,” he states bluntly.

Tony is a bit taken back at the frankness of him; “Hmm, okay.”

Kaecilius is there now, and he’s come for blood.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Queue Tony’s babysitters! And some dirty fighting on Kaecilius’ end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a 13 hour work day doing inventory so forgive me if there are any typos or grammatical errors.

“This is our sanctuary  
We can find shelter and peace  
This is our sanctuary  
You are, you are safe with me.”  
-Welshly Arms

“You’re wasting your time, Ancient One,” Kaecilius hisses. “We will destroy you and your order and we will make room for our true leader Dormammu!” 

He charges at the Ancient One but she sidesteps him and he fumbles towards Tony. Tony blasts him with his hand armor and sends him right back to the Ancient One who crouches down and trips Kaecilius. He does a front flip right into her chest and kicks her backward. Mordo gently helps her regain her balance and she takes a moment to smile gently at him. She charges up her magic fan and sends it spiraling out in magnificent blades towards Kaecilius—but she avoids the lackeys. 

“She believes that they can be saved,” Stephen exhales. 

“Can they?” Tony turns to him, and whispers. 

Stephen doesn’t respond; he turns his attention back to the fight at hand. One of her fan blades strikes Kaecilius in the shoulder but he rips it out and starts slashing at her upper body. She bends her body backward and watches the blade just barely nick the tip of her nose. Mordo charges forward but Wong grabs him by his collar. 

“No, she told us not to interfere Master Mordo,” he shakes his head but the regret in his eyes is plain to see.

Blood drips from the Ancient One’s nose and suddenly the mask of grace has fallen from Stephen’s eyes. 

“Hey, isn’t she supposed to be eternal? Immortal? Why’s she bleeding Doc?” Tony pokes Stephen repeatedly in the bicep. Stephen grabs his hand and brushes it off; 

“She’s still human, Mr. Stark. She bleeds as surely as you or I.” 

The Ancient One spreads her fan wide and swings it out against Kaecilius’ side. He seems unaffected as he tears it from her grip and rips it in half. The light of the fan sputters and it dissipates into floating specks of orange. The Ancient One steps back and does nothing. 

“Hey, what’s she doing? Doc? Wizards?” He turns to the order who are all intently watching their master. Suddenly the entire arena begins to shake from an unseen force. “Is she doing this?!” Tony yells. Just then a man in the armor of a bird lands next to them, followed by an older man in armor similar to Tony’s. “Uh oh…” Tony says as he spins around to greet them. “Sam! Rhodey! What are you two doing here?” Wong and Mordo turn to each other. Tony sweats nervously, 

“Well Mordo, you said you wanted the Avengers! Meet two of them! The Falcon and War Machine, respectively.” Mordo eyes the newcomers suspiciously. 

“How did you two… wait a minute how did you break through to the mirror dimension?” Stephen asks and this causes Mordo and Wong to realize the gravity of the feat as well. 

“There was a weird… tear in the ground where that old building collapsed at. It popped up at the Avengers Compound as an event of interest,” Falcon says to the group. 

“Yeah… I totally didn’t count on you guys to actually be monitoring the lab. Before you start lecturing me Rhodes, hear me out… we gotta stop this turf war before innocents get hurt,” Tony reasons. 

“I’m in,” Sam grins. “I know you are,” Tony shrugs, “But I also know I’m gonna hear about this from Cap, I’m sure.” 

“It’s been two years Tony, I don’t know that you will,” Rhodey places a gentle hand on Tony’s shoulder. Stephen watches Tony’s eyes go dark and wonders about the relationship between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers: the two self-proclaimed leaders of a team of gods and superheroes. 

“So the Civil War wasn’t just rumors or a publicity stunt? It was real?” Stephen asks aloud. 

Tony closes his eyes and clenches his fists, “Yeah, Doc. It was real all right. You should have seen the airport when the fighting ended. You should have seen friends turn to enemies…” he trails off. 

A throat is cleared and all turn to look at Kaecilius — “As interesting as this little costume party is, I’ve important things to be doing.” 

As if the world was in slow motion Kaecilius unsheathes a blade and rushes on The Ancient One. He buries a blade deep in her heart and watches her fall backward, kicking and struggling to remove it. Her magic begins to fail and the arena they are standing in shakes even more violently than when the Avengers arrived. 

“Everyone grab someone and evacuate!” Tony yells as he grabs Mordo. 

Sam dashes to Wong and latches on to him. Rhodey goes to grab Stephen and he levitates himself to indicate that he doesn’t need the help. Rhodey joins Tony and the others on a rooftop across from the arena. Stephen approaches the Ancient One and carefully leans down to pick her up. Kaecilius rushes forward to attack Stephen in the same way but he’s football tackled by Tony. 

“Hurry up Doc!” Tony yells at his on top of Kaecilius, pinning him down simply with the weight of the IronMan armor. Stephen picks her up but at that very moment the arena shatters and everyone starts free falling to the street below them. 

The Cloak saves Stephen but he loses grip on The Ancient One. Tony’s jets kick in but he’s still grappling with Kaecilius. And just like that, before Sam or Rhodey can reach Tony to help him fight off Kaecilius an arrow strikes Kaecilius in the chest. The force of the arrow sends him flying backward and he smashes through the window of a skyscraper. Tony spins around and sees Clint on the rooftop where they took the wizards. He nods at Clint and Clint simply waves back. 

“Called in the old man, huh?” Tony chuckles on the Avenger comms. 

“This old man just saved your ass, and should still make it back home in time for dinner,” Clint smirked. 

Suddenly Tony snaps back to reality as he sees Stephen desperately flying after the Ancient One’s body. Tony uses Friday to calculate where the body is going to land and he beats them both to the ground floor. He catches her as gently as he can but she’s bleeding dangerously and is already unconscious. Stephen joins them with a grim look on his face.  


“We have to take her to Christine.” 

“Who’s Christine?” Tony inquires. 

“My ex-girlfriend,” Stephen says as he looks from the Ancient One to Tony.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s some feels in this one and a good old love triangle too. Sorry, I had to do it to y’all.

“Hold on for dear life  
Until it's all gone, we'll come alive.”  
-Ruelle

Stephen insisted on going to the hospital to face Christine by himself. He didn’t want Tony to hear any of his dark past. Looking back on his relationship with Christine, he was ashamed. He found himself wishing that he could turn back time and treat her as kindly as she had treated him. He remembered the Eye of Agamotto back at Kamar-Taj… his mind wandered to all of the possibilities. He was told time and again to not interfere with the natural law but… if he could go back in time, save himself, prevent the accident… would the Ancient One be lying nearly dead in a janitorial closet in a hospital on the other side of the world from her sanctuary.

“Earth to Doc. Heeeelllo? Doc? Harry Potter??” Tony snaps a few times in front of his face. “Go and get your girl! Hurry up!” He says as the portal closes behind them. 

Stephen shakes his head, “Mr. Stark I asked you not to come.” 

“Yeah, but somebody who’s got their head on straight needs to be here,” he says as he bursts outside of the door and into the bustling corridor of the hospital. 

Several nurses and patients turn in shock as IronMan clears his throat and yells, “A one Christine Palmer front and steady please!” Everyone continues to stare in silence. “What’s everyone looking at? Is it the armor? It’s the armor isn’t it?” He ejects himself from the armor and sends it packing. Christine rushes up; her hair is pulled back and her eyes have dark circles around them. She has one rubber glove on and is attempting to pull on the second. 

“You’re Tony Stark. The Tony Stark. What do you need? With me?” 

“Just a moment of your time, my lady,” he grabs her by the wrist and drags her into the closet. Christine’s face is beet red and her eyes are closed. 

“Mr. Stark, I’m not sure what you expect to happen here…” she waits for his reply but after half a minute she opens her eyes to a defeated-looking Stephen holding a bleeding body. 

“Christine…” he slowly looks up at her and removes his gloves. “Please, help me. ..Please.” Tony is taken back by the pleading in Stephen’s voice.

Christine runs out into the hall and grabs an empty stretcher next to the nurse's desk. 

“Mr. Stark, can you help me lift her?” Tony scoops up the Ancient One and places her down on the stretcher. Christine and some nurses rush off with the Ancient One. She turns back before disappearing down the hall and yells out, “Tell Stephen we’re taking her to the ER!” 

Tony nods. He goes back to the door and places a hand on it. He hesitates. He understands something is going on between Christine and Stephen and he feels extremely out of place. He knows it would be proper to leave but something is tugging deep down inside of him. He doesn’t want to leave Stephen. His voice was so soft and unguarded. He had shown Christine his raw self. Tony felt a pang of jealousy. He had been radiating charm for the better part of a day and still hadn’t swayed Stephen. 

“How long are you going to stand there?” Stephen asks as he opens the door. Tony sees that he has rebuilt his armor and now Tony’s the one left raw.

Tony takes a few steps back, shuffling in his jogging suit. “For as long as you were going to stare, I suppose.” He tries to smirk, but it’s not entirely convincing. 

“You should go rejoin your superhero friends. Unless you’ve got a degree in medicine I don’t think you’ll be of much use here,” Stephen says flatly. Tony bites his lip and thinks for a few moments. 

“Okay, yeah. Whatever you want doc,” the armor reforms over Tony’s body. “Could ya make me one of those fancy portals again?” Stephen steps to the side and rips open the fabric of the closet. Tony puts one leg through the portal and turns around. “See ya soon Stephen,” and suddenly he’s back on the rooftop with Rhodey, Sam, Mordo, and Wong. “What’s the game plan, guys?” 

Stephen hears Tony ask before he makes his way to the Operating Room. He stands at the windowed door and looks in at Christine and the Ancient One: his two lives mixing together. He watches the monitors intently and knows that it’s not good. And then suddenly, he’s on the floor watching the ceiling. Then the ceiling is swirling: his head pounding. His eyes grow heavy and the room grows dark. 

That’s the last thing Stephen remembers when he wakes up in a hospital bed again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My boo Nat is gonna pay y’all a visit in the next chapter! She’s gonna set poor Tony’s head straight — to poor old Rhodey’s frustration. He’s so under appreciated!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen has to come to terms with a great loss in his life; Christine and Tony do their best to help Stephen with his loss.

“And buried in your bones there's an ache that you can't ignore  
Taking your breath, stealing your mind,  
And all that was real is left behind.”  
-Hugh Jackman

The first thing Stephen does is throw his hands up in the air and inspect them. Suddenly he’s both suspended in the past and trapped in the present. His mind races as he tries to figure out what happens. 

“The Ancient One!” he yells as he attempts to get out of bed. 

“Hold on, calm down,” Christine soothes Stephen as she gently pushes his body back down onto the bed. He tries to push against the weight of her arms but he feels sharp sore sensations all throughout his body. “Stephen..” she whispers, “you have to take care of yourself.” 

“Where is she, Christine?” Christine hesitates before she shakes her head. 

“Your friend didn’t make it, Stephen. We did our best. I swear to you we did. But her internal bleeding was too severe. She went under in a matter of seconds. I fought so hard to bring her back but--” 

“That’s enough,” Stephen commands as he turns onto his side, facing the giant ceiling to floor windows. He stares out at the building nestled next to the hospital. He listens to the buzz of the streets below him. He sighs in relief. The real world is safe; the mirror dimension wasn’t as comprised as Mordo lead him to believe. “How long has it been?” Christine fluffs his pillow, then gets up from the bed and smiles at him. 

“Only about a day and a half, but before you say anything you needed the sleep,” she holds out the palm of her hand. Several emotions pass over Stephen’s face ranging from irritation, pain, regret and compliancy. “Could you clear me?” Christine grabs the chart from the end of his hospital bed and flips through it. “Only if you let me check your vitals first. Just the normal business.” She clicks her pen and scribbles her signature on one of the forms. “..Fine,” Stephen says through gritted teeth. 

-meanwhile-

“I’ve been ringing Clint, but he isn’t answering,” Tony announces as he throws himself onto the couch in the Avengers lounge.   
“Tony, he’s retired,” Rhodey states, knowing that it’s public knowledge. 

“Yeah, but he came all the way to the Sanctum to help me!” Tony says as he kicks a pillow onto the ground. 

“To help us Tony, Sam and I were on the line as well,” Rhodey says as he picks the pillow up and places it in an armchair out of reach from Tony’s feet; “And what do you want from him anyways? You know he’s probably busy with his wife and kids.” 

“I dunno.. See how things have been?” Tony says as he rolls onto his side and grabs a magazine off of the coffee table. 

He flips through it as Rhodey begins talking; “Tony, you don’t care about small talk. You’ve been off of your game since you came back from the hospital without the wizard. What happened?” Rhodey eyes Tony carefully as he sits down in the armchair. 

“Nothing really, and I guess that’s the problem. What happened to his ringleader? Did she make it? And what about that white-haired weirdo in the special effects makeup?” He tosses the magazine onto the floor behind the couch and swings his body upwards into a sitting position. Rhodey slowly stands up and retrieves the magazine which he also puts out of Tony’s grabbing range. 

“Why don’t you go visit him then? It’s not like we have an emergencies going on. And from what I can tell you’re not working on any new tech either,” Rhodey sits down beside Tony and puts a hand on his shoulder. Tony wrestles with the thought of seeing the sorcerer again. 

“We.. kind of left things on weird terms, you know? I got caught in the middle of some awkward tension with him and his ex-girlfriend.,” Tony runs a hand through his hair attempting to straighten it but all the random strands fall right back into place. 

“Tony,” Rhodey stands up. 

“Oh just go already!” Natasha enters the room and throws her arms up. “I can’t take this anymore! You’re moping around like a teenage girl, Stark! Either go after your man or move on from it!” She flops down on the couch next to Tony and behind Rhodey. She nudges him out of the way and turns the television on.

Now Tony’s standing outside of the hospital that Stephen’s checked into and he’s fighting with himself. “Should I? No.. I should leave before he sees me..” But when Tony turns to leave he has flashes of Natasha beating him black and blue. He knows that he’ll still mop, and it’ll get worse. He takes a deep breath and strolls into the hospital. He spots a pretty blonde at the front desk and turns on his charm.

“Hey there, Ma'am. I was wondering if you could help direct me to a friend’s room?” The young lady looks up from her computer and smiles.   
“Sure, just give me their name!” He returns the smile and tucks a stray piece of hair behind his ear. 

“Stephen Strange. Yeah I know, it’s a strange name,” he chuckles to himself and she blushes just a little. 

“And yours?” 

“My..?” she trails off as she absentmindedly types Stephen’s name into her computer. 

Tony leans over the counter; “Your name.” 

“Abigail,” she says a little shakily. “And, 337.” 

Tony plants a kiss on her free hand and struts over to the elevator. He looks in the reflective metal of the door and straightens his suit out. I know what you’re thinking, doc. Why’s he wearing a suit? But I’m Tony Stark! I’m always in a suit. It’s part of the brand. He’s defending himself in an imaginary argument when the elevator dings and the doors open. He looks up out of curiosity and finds himself face to face with Stephen who’s also in a suit. 

“Stark?” Stephen asks as he steps out and tries to get around Tony, who doesn’t move. Tony adjusts his cuffs before he turns and meets Stephen’s gaze. 

“I--” Stephen cocks his head at Tony. The elevator dings again and Christine steps off. 

“Oh, Mr. Stark! Welcome back! Are you injured?” She gives him a once-over before he can respond. 

“No, and it’s Tony. Mr. Stark was my father.” 

“Tony,” she nods, “can I help you?” 

“No, I came to retrieve Stephen.” “Retrieve me/Retrieve him?” Stephen and Christine say simultaneously. 

Before Stephen has the chance to process what’s going on he’s being drug outside of the hospital by Tony’s strong grip. 

“Stark, really. What’s going on?” Tony looks around a few times before facing Stephen. 

“Is she… I mean.. Your friend..” A dark shadow falls across Stephen’s face. 

“No, I just found out myself.. I was.. Preparing myself to go to her grave..” he motioned to his outfit and his clean-shaven face. 

“Doc, I’m so sorry!” Tony takes a step backwards, out of shock. Stephen clenches and unclenches his fists, attempting to calm himself down. “Ste--Stephen,” Tony steps forward again and closes the distance between them. “Let’s go together,” he says quietly. When Stephen doesn’t respond Tony grabs his hands; “Hey, it’s going to be okay. Take a deep breath, okay? Close your eyes if you need to. If you need somewhere to mediate we can go to the Compound.” 

After a few moments with his eyes closed, Stephen nods. “To the compound then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think we'll get back to the action after chapter ten! I just wanted to give my baby Stephen some time to rest and recover.


	10. Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen struggles with depression and Tony tries to guide him through it.

Chapter 10: Flowers 

“I like that you're broken  
Broken like me  
Maybe that makes me a fool  
I like that you're lonely  
Lonely like me  
I could be lonely with you.”  
-lovelytheband

The drive to the Compound is long, quiet, and full of anxiety for Tony. He’s spent years masking his own pain and now he’s baffled at how to prevent Stephen from doing the same. When he first took to the drinking, the partying, and the slew of bad habits that came with his PTSD his close friends tried to pull him out of it. 

Nat, especially, was heartbroken when she saw Tony’s genuine smile warp and mold into the fake one that he gives to the public. Somehow, the media never noticed the cracks in his metaphorical armor. She was both grateful and disappointed with the public for not realizing how broken Earth’s mightiest hero had become. 

But while Loki’s assault on New York had started the break, Steve and Bucky’s betrayal had cemented it. Nat found herself in between two men that she loved, cared for, and saw as family. And family didn’t come easy in her world. Tony knew that Nat’s threats of violence were to keep from spiraling too far. She always allowed him a little bit for his own sake, but she knew when enough was enough. She had grown to stand as one of Tony’s life jackets in the sinking ship of his life; Of course, there was Rhodey, Bruce, Clint. 

He thanked his stars everyday just to have people like them: then came Peter Parker and Doctor Stephen Strange. He thought about the kid as he drove down the winding country roads to the new place he called home. He thought about how desperately he didn’t want the kid to get wrapped up in the Avengers lifestyle. He thought about how inevitable it all was, because he saw the same drive and hunger in Peter that he knew existed within himself at that age. He knew sooner or later he couldn’t keep avoiding bringing Peter on missions. Deep down inside he wanted to protect Peter’s innocence because he had never had innocence of his own. He really loved the kid and he just wanted him to be happy and safe for as long as possible. 

“--farther is it?” 

Tony snaps back into reality to hear the end of Stephen’s sentence. Tony lets half of a chuckle slip as they turn a curve and the Compound comes into view in the distance. 

“Listen, there’s going to be a few people in here, Doc,” he says as they pull up. 

Stephen scrunches his face up in disappointment. Tony points to the upper right hand side of the building. 

“The top floor is the bedrooms, below that is the training facility. Nat is likely to be in there with some SHIELD agents so I’d avoid it if I were you,” Tony say as he finally cuts the engine to the car. 

Stephen unconsciously chews the bottom of his lip. “What’s on the roof?” 

“There’s a helipad on one section, the other is free real estate,” Tony replies as he gets out of the car. He walks over to the passenger side and leans into Stephen’s window. “Sounds like it’ll be your best shot at some privacy,” Tony smiles. “Oh! But I’ll need to tell Sam not to worry about any security ‘breaches’,” he spins around and begins to strut off: “last time it ended up in a match between him and an ant!”

Stephen considers questioning Tony about the superpowered ant, but instead puts on his sling ring and portals himself up to the roof. While he attempts to meditate flashes of the Ancient One falling in slow motion cloud his mind. Everytime he sees her face, full of fear, he winces. He attempts to go deeper within his peaceful zone but the images grow more powerful. And then he remembers the Eye of Agamotto. Wong and Mordo warned him about the consequences using the Eye to tamper with time could and would have on the world around them. Somehow though, the warnings seemed less important than the opportunity to bring their master back. Kamar-Taj stood without a master, the world stood with one less sanctum, and several masters were dead. Stephen knew what he had to do, but he still felt fear in his chest.

Two hours later when Tony goes up to the roof to retrieve Stephen he’s greeted by Wong stepping through a portal. 

“Mr. Stark, we need your help,” Wong says, gravely.

“What’s going on?” He asks as he steps through the portal and into Kamar-Taj. “Oh. My. God. This is it? The secret wizard hideout? Is this my acceptance letter to Hogwarts? I didn’t even have time to pick out a wand! I wonder if Armani sells one?” He prances around the courtyard, happier than a child in a candy store.

“Mr. Stark, please. It’s Doctor Strange,” Wong says as he power walks off towards a building in the far north of the courtyard.

When they arrive Stephen’s backed into a corner, wearing the Eye, and holding a conjured whip while Mordo is approaching him slowly.

“I’m only warning you once more, Mordo. I’m taking the Eye and i’m bringing the Ancient One back,” Stephen unlocks the eye and raises his hands to begin the spell.

A look of complete exhaustion comes over Tony’s face. “Stephen.. I thought you were going to work it out on the roof. Why did you leave? I cooked for you, you know!”

Stephen quickly turns to look at Tony.

“You brought an outsider to Kamar-Taj? After lecturing me?” Stephen snaps at Wong.

“He’s here to talk you down,” Wong says as he steps out of the way and Tony steps forward.

“Stephen, please. I might not understand much of what’s going on but your friends here seem really concerned about you. As the world’s leading expert on regret and fucking up I’d say I’m more than qualified to stop you now before you do something really bad.”

“Stark, stay out of this. You know nothing of my world.”

“Doc, I live in your world. And frankly, this is me trying to be your friend. But if you do something that’s going to alter the course of the world than you’re going to be in much deeper water. If you don’t step down I’m going to have to call in the Avengers. And trust me, once Cap suits up there’s gonna be hell to pay.”

“The world will be safe again, once I revive the Ancient One. Every moment we go without her we’re risking being consumed by Dormammu. It’s only a matter of time before the wards weaken and he comes waltzing in with his invitation from Kaecilius.”

“Stephen,” Tony extends his arm out and Stephen recoils, “take my hand and come back to the compound. We’ll get some food in you and then we’ll go visit her grave. It’s nice, I swear. I’ve even been leaving flowers.”

“Flowers?”

“Flowers.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And, FINALLY, in the next chapter the Avengers Assemble.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony makes it his responsibility to see to the Ancient One’s grave and it makes Stephen very soft.

“Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket  
Save 'em for a time when you're really gonna need 'em, oh.”  
-Sam Tsui

“What kind of flowers?”

“Pink carnations.”  
“They’re for remembrance.”

“Mhm,” Tony nods.

“But you barely knew her.”

“But she meant the world to you, so she matters to me too Stephen.”

Stephen’s whip disappears and he falls to the floor. Tears stream from his face and his hands shake greatly as he tries to remove the Eye. Tony leans down next to him and gently takes the Eye from Stephen. He turns and hands it up to Wong who restores it to the podium from which it came. Mordo steps back and waits for Wong before slowly and quietly exiting the room.

Tony pulls Stephen into an embrace and gently pats his back. “Hey, it’s gonna be okay.” After several moments Stephen clears his throat and pulls away from Tony. 

“I just wanted to right my wrongs. I didn’t want any more regrets, Tony.” He looks down at the floor. “I could have saved her.. I could have operated. I--”

Tony takes Stephen’s hands in his own. “Stephen, you fainted from exhaustion. You shouldn’t even be out of the hospital right now. You’ve been pushing yourself non-stop. It’s time to start accepting help. Whether you like it or not, I’m going to call the Avengers.”

“Just for Kaecilius. After that, we’ll rebuild and we’ll go back to the shadows.”

Tony nods and lifts himself and Stephen up off of the ground. “Just this once, swear.” Tony smiles as he unlocks his cell phone and walks outside. “Cap... Steve, it’s me.”

“Stark..” Steve says grimly.

“We’ve got a situation.”

-two hours later-

Wong and Mordo take turns opening portals for the members of the Avengers. Nat and Steve come through gracefully; Sam and Rhodey fumble through; Clint and Wanda look like dear lost in headlights; Vision marvels at the magic surrounding him; and Bucky hesitates to step through. Tony greets each of them in turn as they take in their new surroundings. Nat hugs Tony tightly. 

“Where’s your kid, Stark?” Nat whispers as she breaks the hug.

Tony shakes his head. “He’s got school. He’s gonna sit this one out.”

“Is that what he said, or did you just decide it?”

“I think we’ve got more than enough coverage here,” Tony shrugs and Nat accepts his answer.  
“Where’s the man of the hour?” Nat asks. Stephen steps up slowly, still recovering from his mental breakdown earlier. 

“Doctor Stephen Strange,” he announces.

Cap intertwines his fingers and rests them on his chin. “So, aliens? Again?”

“Just one,” Stephen corrects him, “but powerful enough to consume Earth in one simple motion.”

“How do we fight something in the sky?” Bucky speaks up, “I mean, we all can’t fly like Vision and Stark.” Cap and Tony both turn to him. Cap nods, but Tony just glares.

Stephen shakes his head. “I don’t need you to worry about Dormammu. I need help taking care of his zealots here on Earth. They’ve already assaulted two of our Sanctums. One is left in Hong Kong, and it’s currently unguarded. It’s already been two days since the last attack--”

“Something doesn’t feel right to me.. Why would this rebel group wait so long? It sounds to me like they could just waltz in and take the place, no problem,” Cap chimes.

“He’s right,” Nat sighs. “They must have some sort of trap planned.” She shifts her weight and unconsciously brushes her hand against the knife strapped to her leg.

Wanda chews on her lip and looks to Vision. Vision momentarily closes his eyes, and when he opens them he’s looking into Stephen’s soul. “I trust the sorcerer. I’ll go where he needs me.” 

“So, I’m thinking Wanda, Vision, and Clint on a rooftop. Sam and Rhodey circling the immediate proximity as our eyes in the sky. And Cap, Bucky and Nat as the best bouncers on the front door.”

“Mordo and I will be joining the fight at the front door,” Wong speaks for the two.

“And what about you and the doctor?” Natasha looks back and forth between the two of them.

Tony looks back to Stephen and sighs. “He’s going to--”

“I’m going to use the distraction to confront Dormammu on my own.”

“Are you out of your mind?!” Tony yells.

“Uh oh.. I’m having flashbacks,” Nat whispers quietly to Sam and Rhodey.

“No, I’ve already said that I’m doing this on my own. I’ve got a plan, but..” he turns to Wong and Mordo. “I need the Eye…”

Mordo’s entire body tenses up; “The Eye is reserved for the Sorcerer Supreme.”

Wong pulls out a single sheet of paper from his pocket. “I hadn’t had time to give this to you until now, but the Ancient One asked me to pass this on to you,” he approached Stephen and placed it in his shaking hand. “Take your time, go read it, Strange;” Wong requests as he steps back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is just going to be the letter. Stephen’s reactions to it come in the following chapter. I’m sorry that I’m dramatic, sue me lol.


	12. The Letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Many feels, much sadness.

“Steady hands, just take the wheel...”  
-Corey Gray

“Strange,

Wong has informed me that you’ve been pursuing through my personal collection. Mordo appeared to be deeply concerned; Wong moreso impressed by your desire and drive to learn more and more every day. In the beginning, when I threw you out of Kamar-Taj it is because I saw too much of Kaecilius in you and I feared that you would end up betraying me just as he did. You are of a very strong mind and a wholly scientific mindset. I was not sure how well you would thrive in the deeply rich spirituality of Kamar-Taj and the order. 

But you’ve mastered so many of your courses in such a short amount of time. I’ve grown to become proud of you: vain, I know. Forgive me for that. I never had the chance to speak to you of the multiple futures I’ve seen for myself and the order. 

No matter how many gruesome fates I prevented they all lead to my death. I feel it growing closer these days. I’ve been alive for so long now. I’ve felt that I’ve had no one to pass the metaphorical mantle to. I dearly cherish Wong and Mordo both, but I know that they are not the individuals fated to take on this role.

That person is you, Stephen. It has been and always will be. It’s been foretold so many times, in so many different ways. At first, I didn’t realize it. But now, I know.

Of all of my deaths, the one that has stood out the most to me is you and I standing on a balcony at the hospital where your Christine works. We are in our astral forms and you attempt to convince me not to leave. You tell me that it’s not too late; You believe Christine and her team will save me. You cling to me like that of a child to their parent. And I stretch a single moment out into a million. I watch the snow fall around us; I study the landscape of the city; I admire the skyscrapers around us; I think of dying so far from our home--Kamar-Taj. But when you take my hand I know that you’re wrestling with your ego. I realize that you’ve been trying to so hard to find the balance between your fear of failure and your desire to help people. I realize all of this, and I tell you some of it. And when I release your hand I leave you standing on the balcony. And you understand what you have to do. 

The Eye of Agamotto is yours. The ancient texts are yours. Kamar-Taj is yours.

I believe in you, Stephen. I know that you’ll give your life to serving the Sanctums and the order.

You were a wonderful student and an even more fascinating and amazing person.

-The Ancient One.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Avengers, assemble.”


End file.
